I ran away from teaching to the country to grow veggies. There are also some chooks and a pair of troublesome goats who were so much trouble they had to go! My simple green life isn't always as simple or as green as I'd like...but I keep trying!

Hazel, these are called Siberian Irises...I have them too, flowering only once a year, with strappy foliage? And yes, they are shy, you have to really peek into the foliage to see them...very pretty though..

Hazel, if you were intent upon taking close up photos of my face and plastering it all across your blog - I'd be hiding my face too! Although your beautiful little irises (I like to say "iri") certainly take a better close up than I do :D